OLDHAM Athletic manager Harry Kewell had nothing but praise for his side after they ended Exeter’s 13-match unbeaten run in all competitions with a 2-1 win at St James Park.

Things looked good for the Grecians when they went in front through Randell Williams’ first goal of the season in the 12th minute, but Latics were soon level when George Blackwood curled in from 18 yards.

And Danny Rowe won it for Oldham with a spectacular 30-yard free-kick, which he powered into the roof of the net and past goalkeeper Jokull Andresson in the 32nd minute.

“If we look back that is four wins in five games now,” Kewell said. “We can see the progression, we know sometimes it is going to be slower. I thought we applied ourselves perfectly today.

“We had a plan and stuck to it. We got off to a good start and they got a goal out of nothing. But I always knew we had something in the game.

“We worked the equaliser excellently and it was the perfect finish.

“And when Rowe stepped up and hit that one, it was sublime.

“I thought it was a great performance from us. They are a fantastic team, they play a certain way and we had to match them and give that little bit more.

“We know that in any League Two game when you are in the lead, the opposition are going to throw everything at them and by the end they had about five or six people up front.

“We should have buried the game, we had about three or four one-on-ones. We matched them with great attitude and desire and it was just a shame that we didn’t finish them off.”

Exeter manager Matt Taylor was frustrated with the result after seeing his side start so well.

“I thought we started the game well and we deservedly went ahead, but we had two poor moments in terms of giving them the opportunity to score and get ahead,” he said.

“I just felt that the group were half a yard away from where they needed to be. There were too many balls in their radius where a blue shirt came out on top and it was too easy for them to come out on top in those moments.

“We have dominated the ball – as we usually do in a lot of our games – for the majority of that second half and they have barely got near our box, but we still didn’t make their centre-halves and goalkeeper work enough.

“Were the players that were on the pitch doing exactly what I wanted them to do? I felt mentally, they weren’t quite engaged enough in terms of what was needed.

“The second goal is a great strike, but our goalkeeper will take responsibility for that.”